Page 145 - 2020 Nov 30 Christie's Hong Kong Important Chiense Works of Art

Silk altar frontals contained a valence and main register, and were ᫉ᡮჍӳ⛘ݦ㈍ڬपᝳǸᢹ㲞ཀቯ㉃ǹ㟊ࣇӬ៦卿ヿ▔᫉ᡮჍ፽ᝪᙻ࢈
suspended around the front and both sides of a table, covering the ՗㲞ྒྷᢹ㲞ཀԋײ⊇ǯӲ䂆⡠ᡮჍ⎏ໄӽ׾ຽ⏟⋁⧎㇦ǯஙӬᆌᑪᾅԳ
legs. They did not cover the table top. Often they were made in sets of
᳖༈Գ㪏⎑Ⴝ།་Ꮢᗥ㉑⎏ᾅ‷ㅏ卿ज㇦உ⥴༾ᄠ⎏ᡮჍ⥷ᝳ⯝᫉㯸ַ
three, for two smaller tables and one large one. While often called altar
⎏⡠㱈卿㇦Ƕ᳖ջ༈ᅡ⊂᰻Ƿ卿झ࢈卿 ჺ卿㮰 卿எ ǯӬᆌி
frontals, these panels were also often used in the home.
༱༈⎏༰ᜀᾅԋ卿Քज⏭ߪஉ⥴Ի㯸ַᡮჍ⎏ݦᆌ؊ᡮ卿㇦Ƕ5IF 1BMBDF
Yellow altar frontals embroidered with dragons, such as the present .VTFVN 1FLJOHǷ卿⡥⡙卿 ჺ卿㮰 Ǯ ǯ
lot, were of the most formal and were likely used on the ancestral altar
tables of high-ranking nobles, or in Confucian and Buddhist temples
at court. Because of the seals on the pelmet, this altar frontal was
likely used in the Pure Fragrance Monastary. Embroidered silk altar
frontals with three dragons, like the present panel, are particularly
rare. One example, featuring three dragons on the front with a valence
embroidered with further dragons, is pictured in a photograph of the
Qian Qing Gong (Palace of Heavenly Purity) in the Forbidden City,
Beijing, on an altar placed in front of an elaborately carved throne,
illustrated by Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing and Lu Yanzheng, Qingdai
Gongting Shenghuo, 1985, p. 192, no. 277. The photograph is used
to illustrate the Qianlong Emperor’s family banquet, illustrating the
imperial usage of yellow altar frontals with dragons in the court. For
an example of other frontals in situ, see a photograph of the interior
of the Palace of Earthly Repose, where sacrificial banquets were held,
reproduced by Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda in The Palace Museum:
Peking, New York, 1982, pp. 54 and 55.

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